Surgical pad and the like



June 5, 1956 w SCHQLL 2,748,765

SURGICAL PAD AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 21, 1950 WL' [Ham M. 50/2 0/! United States Patent Qfiice 2,748,765 Patented June 5, 1956 2,748,765 7 SURGICAL PAD AND THE LIKE William M. Scholl, Chicago, m. Application December 21, 1950, Serial No. 202,034

' I 8 Claims. (Cl. 128-153 This invention relates to improvements in a surgical pad, and more particularly to a surgical pad of the type adhesively attached to the human body over some affliction, such as a corn, callous, bunion, or any other afiliction or injury requiring protection and relief from pressure of articles of apparel, although the invention will have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

In the past, many and various types of surgical pad, especially those commonly used for foot ailments of the character of corns, callouses, bunions, and the like, have been developed, but in most instances where such pads were adhesively attached to the body of the user, there was danger of adhesive creeping out or exuding from the undersurface of the pad and thus coming in contact with articles of apparel to the possible injury of the apparel and to the discomfort of the user. While it has heretofore been proposed to cover the entire body portion of the pad down to the surface of the skin of the user, in order to prevent such exudation of adhesive, such arrangement has been found to be prohibitively expensive in manufacture.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a surgical pad for adhesive attachment to the body of a user, which pad is so constructed as to eliminate any exudation of adhesive from under the body contacting face of the pad.

Also an object of this invention is the provision of a surgical pad for adhesive attachment to the human body, wherein the adhesive carried by the underface of the pad is set in from the bounding margin of the body part of the pad so as to leave a clean margin all around the adhesive on the underface of the pad.

Still a further object of the invention resides in the provision of a surgical pad of which thebody or cushioning part is preferably made of foam latex, and which carries an adhesive undersurface inset from the edge of the pad, leaving a clean margin of the body portion surrounding the attaching adhesive on the underside of the pad.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a surgical pad having a cushioning body part with a layer of material carrying an adhesive undersurface attached to the underface of the body part, such layer of material being of less area than the body part of the pad, and having a central opening therein for the reception of the afiliction, with the cushioning material overlying said opening.

It is also a feature of the invention to provide a surgical pad having a body part of cushioning material with a relatively shallow recess in the bot-tom portion thereof, the recess being of less area than the body part of the pad, and the pad carrying an adhesive attaching surface inside said recess.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through a surgical pad embodying principles of the instant invention, showing the same in inverted position and attached to a backing member;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of a completed surgical pad embodying principles of the instant invention;

Figure 3 is an inverted sectional view of a surgical pad of somewhat different form, also embodying principles of the instant invention; and

Figure 4 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line IVIV of Fig. 3.

As shown on the drawings:

In each instance in the drawings, the instant invention is shown in inverted position, as it would be attached to the plantar surface of the human foot, although it should be noted that in some instances it may be desirable to attach the pad to other surfaces of the foot depending upon the character of the aflliction to be treated. The first illustrated embodiment of the instant invention is shown in longitudinal section attached to any suitable smooth surfaced backing member 1 of a temporary character which is removed before the pad is put to use.

As seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the surgical pad includes a sheet 3 having an adhesive undersurface 4, and which sheet is preferably provided with a central opening defined by a tortuous or serrated line of cut as indicated at 8. This sheet 3 maybe in the form of double-faced adhesive tape, and thus adhesively secured to a body portion 9 made of cushioning material, or the body portion 9 may be provided with adhesive on its underside to connect it to the sheet 3, as may be desired. The cushioning material sheet 9, in the illustrated instance, is preferably of latex foam which provides a very light, highly resilient material, and which retains itselasticity and restorative power indefinitely, foam latex not vulcanizing or becoming permanently compacted by virtue of pressure or body heat, as would be the case with the formerly known sponge rubber.

Preferably the cushioning body portion 9 is concentric with the adhesive tape sheet 3 but has a greater area than the sheet 3 sothat there is a clean exposed marginal portion 9a of the body part around the adhesive undersurface 4 on the sheet 3, as clearly seen in Fig. 2. In other words, all exposed adhesive surface is inset from the bounding edge of the body part 9.

If so desired, a smooth non-drag cover 10 may be used overthe cushion sheet 9, such cover being smooth slick cloth, vinyl or other plastic film or any other suitable material.

Looking now at Fig. 2, we find that the completed surgical pad when attached to the body of a user by the adhesive undersurface 4 will be firmly secured, but there will be no danger of any exudation of adhesive from under the body part of the pad to come in contact with articles of apparel. It will further be noted that the opening 8 provided in the double-faced adhesive tape layer may receive an aflliction and this opening is covered by the soft cushioning body part of the pad so as to alleviate any irritation on the afiliction itself. Actual practice has proven that the pad remains longer and more firmly in position against slippage by virtue of the serrated opening 8 than is the case with a smooth edged opening.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that I have provided a novel surgical pad which may be shaped to fit corns, callouses, bunions, or substantially any surface affliction of the body wherein a covering and pressure eliminating device is needed. The pad may be extremely economically manufactured, and when applied will remain firmly in position, is waterproof, and there is no danger of any adhesive exuding to come in contact with apparel. The illustrated pad, namely the one seen in Fig. 2, is of the type commonly used to cover a callous on the plantar surface of the human foot. In certain in-' stances, however, it might be desirable to have the central opening extend entirely through the pad in the manner of the commonly known corn pad.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a somewhat different form of surgical pad which embodies a body part 11 of cushioning material, foam latex being illustrated by way of example. This body portion is preferably molded, and a recess 12 is provided in the undersurface thereof, this recess being relatively shallow. The adhesive is disposed inside the recess. In the illustrated instance, a fabric layer 13 is provided which is adhesively secured to the body part as at 14, and carries an exposed adhesive surface 15 for attaching the pad to the body of the user. The adhesive 14 may be initially carried by the fabric 13 in the form of double-faced adhesive tape, or the fabric 13 may carry only one face, and the adhesive 14 be applied to the body part initially, as may be most desired. Preferably, the fabric and adhesive are provided with a central opening 16 therethrough as illustrated in Fig. 3, to receive the affliction and eliminate the contact of adhesive on the afiliction itself. It will be noted particularly from the showing in Fig. 4, that the exposed adhesive surface for contact with the users body is substantially level or flush with margin 17 of the body part therearound, and thus again exudation of adhesive from beneath the pad is effectively prevented.

The method of making the instant invention is set forth, described, and claimed in my copending application entitled Method of Making a Surgical Pad, filed March 29, 1952, Serial No. 279,335, now Patent No. 2,716,625, which copending application is a division of the instant application.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a surgical pad, a body portion of soft resilient cushioning material, and an adhesive under-surface of less area than said body portion thereon leaving a clean bounding margin of the body portion exposed around said adhesive undersurface.

2. In a surgical pad, a body part of cushioning material, a layer of material attached to the underside of said body part, said layer being of less area than said body part and centrally disposed relatively thereto leaving exposed a clean bounding margin of said body part, and said layer carrying an adhesive undersurface.

3. In a surgical pad, a body part of cushioning material, a layer of material attached to the underside of said body part, said layer being of less area than said body part and centrally disposed relatively thereto leaving a clean bounding margin of the body exposed around said layer, said layer carrying an adhesive undersurface, and said layer having an opening in the central portion thereof to receive an aflliction.

4. In a surgical pad, a body part of cushioning material, a layer of material attached to the underside of said body part, said layer being of less area than said body part and centrally disposed relatively thereto leaving a clean bounding margin of the body part around said layer, said layer carrying an adhesive undersurface, and said layer having an opening in the central portion thereof to receive an affliction, said body part overlying the opening in said layer.

5. In a surgical pad, a body part of foam latex, a layer of non-drag material covering the outer face only of said body part, a fabric layer of less area than said body part attached centrally to the underside thereof leaving a clean margin of said body part around said layer, and an adhesive undersurface on said fabric layer.

6. In a surgical pad, a body part of foam latex, a layer of material double-faced with adhesive attached centrally to the underside of said body part, said layer being of less area than said body part to leave a clean margin of the body part around said layer and having a central opening therein.

7. In a surgical pad, a body part of cushioning material having a shallow recess in the underface thereof, and adhesive for attaching the pad to the body of a user carried by said body part in said recess only.

8. In a surgical pad, an irnperforate body part of cushioning material, a fabric layer of less area than said body part attached centrally to the underside of said body part, an adhesive undersurface on said fabric layer, and said fabric layer having an opening therein defined by a serrated edge with said body part overlying said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,637,623 Schmitt Aug. 2, 1927 1,963,474 Scholl June 19, 1934 1,984,158 Scholl Dec. 11, 1934 1,995,077 Perryman Mar. 19, 1935 2,081,715 Scholl May 25, 1937 2,310,082 Holbrooke Feb. 2, 1943 2,599,523 Dorr June 3, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 11,703 Great Britain of 1903 43,325 Norway Nov. 1, 1926 397,700 Great Britain Aug. 31, 1933 622,327 Great Britain Apr. 29, 1949 

